a periodical from the desk of  Pastor White...

   Working together                                   in Christ to make a difference...

Priority Living...

Volume 5, Issue 1

January 25th 2006

The story is told of a couple who attended a county fair where a gentleman was offering rides in an old biplane for $50 per person. Although the couple thought it would be fun to ride in a biplane, they felt that the price was exorbitant. They tried negotiating to get him to lower the price, but he wouldn't budge.

Finally the pilot, tired of their bantering back and forth, made the following offer: "You pay me $100 to take you up, and if neither of you say a single word during the flight, I'll refund your money in full."

       Immediately they agreed to such a bargain and climbed into the biplane. As soon as they were airborne, the pilot proceeded to do every aerial maneuver he could think of - diving, looping, rolling, and flying upside down, hoping to make them scream out in fear.    

       When the plane finally landed, the pilot said to the husband, "Congratulations! For a man who talks so much it really surprised me that you didn't say one solitary word during the whole time we were in the air. Here's your money back, you deserve it!"   

"It was difficult," said the husband, "particularly when my wife fell out."

       As you reflect on this fictional tale, I'm sure, like myself, you want to scream out, "Where are your priorities, man!" But sometimes in today's rat race as we are driving, looping, rolling, and just plain flying upside down at 90 miles per hour, we fail to get our own lives in focus.

       It is time that we prioritize our lives.  Jesus is soon to appear and for many of us we will be found wanting. For some, it’s our non-committal attendance at church. We fool ourselves into thinking that we don’t need to go to church. We find so many excuses; I’m too tired, I don’t feel well, the baby (16 year old Tommy) is sick, so I need to stay home with him. In fact, in some cases, the whole family have to stay home just to blow the poor kids nose! For others, they can’t seem to get out of bed in time. They have an audience with the King of the Universe, and yet they stroll in thirty minutes late. Still others have yet to trust God and test His faithfulness with their tithe and offerings. Just what is it that we are waiting for? 

Now, is the time to prioritize our lives. Choose Jesus or don’t. But, get off that fence. Believe me, you don’t want to be straddling it when Jesus returns (Rev. 3:14-16).